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15 April 2015

Shield quandary

Last night I got this fellow from "initial drybrush for metals" up to this stage, and fairly pleased I was too. Black and white checks, stripy trousers, and go-fasta-red all included for maximum orciness:

The pose is very similar to Harboth (he of orc archers' Renown):

Harboth, listed as "officer", is smack in the middle

which made me think he was a variant of the Regiment's leader, but I now think that my fellow came first (i.e. Harboth is a variant of him, rather than the other way round) as he is shown in the consistently excellent 1987 Spring Citadel Journal release from Kev Adams:

So, the orc I've painted was released as "Mannik", and a third variant also exists, further up the same page from Harboth in the 1988 catalogue:

Now, where was I? Oh yes, like I said, I'm pretty pleased with the way Mannik turned out, especially his trousers, but you'll notice a problem - no shield! I had a go at painting up the "dwarf-face" shield from Crooked Claw miniatures (which regular readers will know is one of my favourite manufacturers), but I wasn't at all happy with the way it turned out. Here's the shield from their website:

I chose it because I was concerned that a big vicious painted face, in true 80s style like the one I did for a member of this chap's unit, would be too much, would make it too busy:

I didn't want the overall effect to be confused or, honestly, to hide the patterns I's painstakingly already painted on his trousers and armour. Drew Williams suggested on the FB page that I go for a dirty and battered kite shield, the point of it echoing the pointiness of his helmet. I rather like that idea but am still torn over the pattern. A "face"? More red/b&w like the stomach plate and pauldron? Another pattern entirely?

11 comments:

This has to be one of my favourite Orc figures. Whatever you decide on a shield, it will only add to what is, in my opinion, one of the smartest paintjobs on an Orc I have seen. It ticks all the boxes. Excellent work!

Ah, good man, Erny, thanks! I'm going for a small round shield with an 80s face (in blue to match his striped trousers), but a moon face shield would be a lovely addition to the range of shields this little warband will have.

Well I did my moon faces blue on my warhammer regiments boyz so you could do both. More seriously I understand if the moon face ain't what you are after for this chap but you're still welcome to one or two, I have other spares too particularly if you don't mind 4th ed shields.

Sir, I would like to see a circular shield with half chequered split down the middle with an evil Suns red cut down the middle on the other.Or the evil Suns face in the centre with chequered around the edge. Badass.

About Me

The escapist hobby of my teenage years has resurfaced as a way for my adult self to relax and be creative after all the important parts of my day have been addressed. Nostalgia for the simplicity of my youth is undoubtedly a part of it!